May 11, 2014

Indonesia: Hospital ‘ready to cope’ with rise in MERS patients

The management of Adam Malik Hospital in Medan, North Sumatra, says it is ready to cope with the increasing numbers of suspected Middle East Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus (MERS-CoV) patients.

As of Sunday, eight suspected MERS patients from several regions in North Sumatra had been treated at Adam Malik Hospital.

The most recent patient suspected to have contracted MERS has been identified only as M, a 26-year-old Medan resident. She was referred to Adam Malik Hospital from the Soeroso health clinic at 11 p.m. local time on Saturday as she suffered severe coughing and high fever after returning home from an umrah (minor pilgrimage) to Saudi Arabia.

Hospital spokesperson Sairi Saragih said four out of eight patients admitted to the hospital had been returned home as they tested negative for MERS infection.

She said the last patient sent home was SHN, 50, a resident of Deli Serdang regency. She was allowed to leave the hospital on Saturday afternoon after being treated in an infectious isolation room for six days.

“SHN is the only suspected MERS patient to have been treated in our inpatient facility that we have returned home due to negative lab results. Three other patients previously sent home did not receive inpatient medical treatment as they only suffered flu-like symptoms,” Sairi told The Jakarta Post on Sunday.

Apart from M, three other patients who are still receiving inpatient treatment at Adam Malik Hospital are AP, 63, a Belawan resident; MA, 71, who is also from Medan; and SPJ, 55, a resident of Serdang Bedagai regency.

Sairi said doctors had sent samples of nose and throat swabs from the four suspected MERS patients to the Health Ministry, in Jakarta, for laboratory tests.

“We are still waiting for the test results. If they come back negative, we will immediately send them [the patients] home,” she said. Sairi said Adam Malik Hospital had only 11 infectious isolation rooms for suspected MERS sufferers.

“The number of our isolation rooms is small but we have a system to manage the use of the facilities should there be a significant increase in suspected MERS patients,” she said.

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The management of Adam Malik Hospital in Medan, North Sumatra, says it is ready to cope with the increasing numbers of suspected Middle East Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus (MERS-CoV) patients.

As of Sunday, eight suspected MERS patients from several regions in North Sumatra had been treated at Adam Malik Hospital.

The most recent patient suspected to have contracted MERS has been identified only as M, a 26-year-old Medan resident. She was referred to Adam Malik Hospital from the Soeroso health clinic at 11 p.m. local time on Saturday as she suffered severe coughing and high fever after returning home from an umrah (minor pilgrimage) to Saudi Arabia.

Hospital spokesperson Sairi Saragih said four out of eight patients admitted to the hospital had been returned home as they tested negative for MERS infection.

She said the last patient sent home was SHN, 50, a resident of Deli Serdang regency. She was allowed to leave the hospital on Saturday afternoon after being treated in an infectious isolation room for six days.

“SHN is the only suspected MERS patient to have been treated in our inpatient facility that we have returned home due to negative lab results. Three other patients previously sent home did not receive inpatient medical treatment as they only suffered flu-like symptoms,” Sairi told The Jakarta Post on Sunday.

Apart from M, three other patients who are still receiving inpatient treatment at Adam Malik Hospital are AP, 63, a Belawan resident; MA, 71, who is also from Medan; and SPJ, 55, a resident of Serdang Bedagai regency.

Sairi said doctors had sent samples of nose and throat swabs from the four suspected MERS patients to the Health Ministry, in Jakarta, for laboratory tests.

“We are still waiting for the test results. If they come back negative, we will immediately send them [the patients] home,” she said. Sairi said Adam Malik Hospital had only 11 infectious isolation rooms for suspected MERS sufferers.

“The number of our isolation rooms is small but we have a system to manage the use of the facilities should there be a significant increase in suspected MERS patients,” she said.